Potential Everipedia User Struggles to Deal With EOS’ Entry Barriers

A potential Everipedia user has been struggling to deal with EOS' entry barriers.

The potential user, on Reddit, revealed he was interested in the project but didn't know anything about blockchain technology.

Blockchain technology is finding its way into new applications every day, but entry barrier for most of these applications is still relatively high for the average user. Developers have made great strides to close this gap in recent years, but most blockchain platforms are still very intimidating to newcomers.

For example, Everipedia, the largest blockchain-based online encyclopedia, is a project that created excitement among people who don't even know what a “blockchain” is, but it seems they are having trouble figuring out how to contribute to the community.

As CryptoGlobe reported last month, Everipedia will be running on EOS.IO technology, and while no sign up is required to publish content or vote on Everipedia’s network, it does require users to have an EOS account and IQ tokens.

This process caused confusion for Redditor “willwrite4schlrshps,” who asked for help on the Everipedia subreddit.

I have no idea who or what a "block chain" is. However, I do know what an underrepresented minority in STEM is, and I'd love be invited so I can contribute to Everipedia by writing articles (plus, be eligible for the scholarship)! Thanks.

Moments later the redditor posted a follow-up question: “Okay, so I've made it to the new domain, and I've got the Scatter extension for Chrome. But Scatter is asking for my "key pair" and I have no idea what that is or how to generate one.”

Romiezzo, one of the moderators on the forum, posted the following response empathizing with the user’s frustration:

Unfortunately, registration on Everipedia.org is no longer available, as we've pushed our efforts towards creating our blockchain platform (iqnetwork.io). We understand that the process for the latter is a lot more rigorous right now, especially for someone who is not involved in crypto/the EOS community. However, because we are running on EOS, we believe it makes more sense to have people migrate to the IQ Network and start participating in the site's governance of content and technology.

In order to contribute to the online encyclopedia, a newcomer would have to go through many unfamiliar steps that involve spending money, submitting personal information and learning an entirely new technology. Since the initial post was made, there’s still no indication the new user was able to start contributing to Everipedia.

Everipedia and EOS both show potential, but as with any project in the blockchain space, including Bitcoin, there is still a long way to go before this technology is accessible to the average consumer.

PayPal is Cautiously Optimistic About Partnership with Libra Association

Payment platform was one of the first companies to join and support the Libra Association.

Payment platform PayPal is cautiously optimistic about its relationship with Facebook’s digital currency libra, despite being the highest-profile company to join the Libra Association.

PayPal Backs Libra Association

In June, shortly after the official unveiling of Facebook’s libra, PayPal announced an intention to join and support the Libra Association, a collection of tech and finance companies promoting the product.

At the time, PayPal billed the digital currency as a revolutionary product for people around the world,

We believe in democratizing participation in the digital economy for people from all walks of life, and businesses of all sizes.

However, PayPal appears cautious about its future with Facebook’s digital currency. PayPal investor relations vice president Gabrielle Rabinovitch reiterated Sept. 12 that the company is a non-binding agreement with libra,

It's a non-binding commitment. And obviously, I think there's a lot of work to happen before we get to that point where it becomes something more than just a very exciting idea.

She added,

The goals and ambitions of Libra are very consistent with PayPal's overall ambitions in terms of serving the underserved; democratizing access to capital. So we very much believe in the potential of Libra.

While PayPal appears optimistic about the future of libra, the digital currency has endured months of regulatory and political scrutiny concerning its release.

Earlier in the week, senior U.S. Treasury official Sigal Mandelker told an audience in Geneva that libra would be held to the highest standard of regulatory compliance in order to combat money laundering and terrorist funding.